In an age of hard men, the stockily built midfield man was one of the toughest, a symbol of passion and fiery commitment.

For years the iconic picture of him angrily holding Leeds’ equally combative Billy Bremner was framed on the wall in the players’ lounge at White Hart Lane, the club’s spiritual leader long after he’d left.

Dave Mackay confronts Billy Bremner during his Tottenham days in August 1966

Mackay is crowned by Jimmy Robertson (right) after Spurs beat Chelsea 2-1 in the 1967 FA Cup final

Mackay won the FA Cup with Tottenham three times, in 1961, 1962 and 1967

Mackay runs up the stairs at White Hart Lane as he fights his way back from a double leg fracture

But while that image summed up his enduring aggression and determination there was so much more to his game than just his daunting physical presence.

Born in Edinburgh in 1934, he was the second in a family of four boys whose father worked for The Scotsman newspaper.

He began his career with his boyhood idols Hearts, winning all three domestic honours before captaining the side in 1957-8 when they won the Scottish League title – setting a British record with 132 goals scored and only 29 conceded.

That persuaded Spurs to buy him in 1959 for £32,000, a transfer that manager Bill Nicholson later claimed was his greatest ever signing.

He created a powerful partnership with Danny Blanchflower, and together they provided the driving force in the side that became the first post-war team to achieve the double of League title and FA Cup.

In all Mackay played 318 times for Tottenham, twice recovering from a broken left leg to captain the side that won the FA Cup in 1967.

In a statement, Spurs said: 'Dave Mackay will certainly always be remembered here as one of our greatest ever players and a man who never failed to inspire those around him.

'In short, a Spurs legend.'

Mackay challenges Manchester United's George Best during a game during the 1970s

Best again felt the full force of Mackay's boot as the pair battle for the ball in 1971

DAVE MACKAY FACTFILE

Club

Games

Goals

Hearts (1953-59)

135

25

Spurs (1959-68)

318

51

Derby (1968–1971)

122

5

Swindon (1971-72)

26

1

Scotland (1957-65)

22

2

The famous picture was taken on the first day of that season, when Mackay reacted to a tackle he believed was designed to deliberately injure his bad leg.

He was a powerful personality, the leader off the field in the days when the players would congregate in the Bell and Hare pub after matches, as well as the leader on the pitch.

When Brian Clough was forging the early days of his management career in 1968 he persuaded Spurs to sell him Mackay for a bargain £5,000 – and the Scot then became captain of the team that first won promotion to the old First Division, and then captured the League title in their first season in the top flight.

Derby captain Mackay with the Watney Cup after their 4-1 victory over Manchester United

Mackay, who also played for Hearts and Swindon, was capped 22 times by Scotland

Mackay with former Derby manager Brian Clough and ex-chairman Lionel Pickering at the Baseball Ground in 2003

Sir Bobby Charlton and Mackay chat as they pose for pictures of their special stamps in 2013

He was jointly voted Footballer of the Year in 1969 alongside Tony Book, and played 122 games in all for Derby before ending his career as player-manager of Swindon.

That began a management career which brought more success, starting out with Nottingham Forest and then peaking when in 1975, appointed as Derby’s manager following Clough’s resignation, he guided the club to the 1974-5 League title.

Further jobs with Walsall, Doncaster and Birmingham brought less success, however, and his career ended taking jobs in Egypt and Qatar before he retired from football altogether in 1995.

In later years he suffered from both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.